The Basic Photoshop CS5 Commands

Getting familiar with the Photoshop CS5 application window is a great way to get your bearings before diving into Photoshop’s tools and commands. Here are a few basic pointers:

Launch Photoshop by clicking the Start menu or an icon on the taskbar (Windows) or clicking the Photoshop icon on the Dock (Mac).

You can also double-click a Photoshop shortcut or alias on your desktop.

Open an image by choosing File→Open. If you have several images open at a time, cycle through them by pressing Ctrl+Tab (Windows) or Control+Tab (Mac).

Sometimes you need to see more detail in a photo. Zoom in by pressing Ctrl (Command on the Mac) + the plus sign key. When you’re done editing, zoom out by pressing Ctrl + the minus sign key (Command + the minus sign key on the Mac).

Scroll an image by pressing the spacebar and then dragging.

Set your preferences by choosing Edit→Preferences (Windows) or Photoshop→Preferences (Mac).

Arrange and combine panels, customize the Options bar, and modify menu and keyboard shortcuts to how you work best. Then save your workspace to use again by choosing Window→Workspace→New Workspace.